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Dylan’s voice went serious again “What exactly do you need her to do?”
Zach spun the glass again “Come to her senses”
“Zach Seriously Quit ing in self-pity”
Zach took a bracing breath “Okay Right I need her to scale back BuildNo any arch And especially no two-thousand-gallon saltwater aquarium”
Dylan thought about it for a moment “So, make her want to do just that”
“How?” Zach de fro to use a rowboat to turn the Queen Mary around”
Dylan was quiet for a few et past the e his brain and think rationally But it didn’t see
“What about Sadie?” asked Dylan
“What about her?” Zach didn’t follow
“Sadie left Kaitlin the company”
“And?” Hoas that a plus in Zach’s present circumstances?
“And Kaitlin would have to be downright callous not to care about what Sadie would want”
“You think I should convince Kaitlin to respect Sadie’s wishes?” That would be an awful lot easier if Sadie had actually left wishes But her only wish seemed to be for Zach’s wife to control him
Dylan lifted his glass in a toast, ice cube clinking against the crystal “That’s exactly what I think you should do”
“What wishes? Where wishes? Sadie left no wishes, Dylan”
“Would she want a flashy, avant-garde showpiece?”
“Of course not” Zach’s grande and tradition She had been the guardian of the Harper fa respect for everyone that went before her
“Then help Kaitlin learn that,” Dylan suggested
Zach couldn’t see that happening “She’s already accusedher”
“Did you?”
“No” Zach paused “Well, I made a couple of passes at her But it wasn’t manipulation It was plain old lust”
“Better stop doing that” Dylan drank
“No kidding” Though, if Zach was realistic, it was probably a whole lot easier said than done
Zach still couldn’t see Dylan’s plan working “I doubt she’ll listen to h to learn about Sadie And, even if she does, she’ll assu” At this point, there was no way Kaitlin would believe anything Zach said
“Don’t tell her about Sadie”
“Then how…” Zach tapped his index finger iainst the table
Dylan gave a secretive little smile and polished off his drink “Show her Sadie”
Zach gave his head a shake of inco his hands palms up
“Take her to the island,” said Dylan “Show her Sadie’s handiwork Then ask her to design sorandet it”
Zach stilled It wasn’t a half-bad idea In fact, it was a brilliant idea
He let out a chopped laugh “And you claim to be honest and principled”
“I’ you lie to her”
“But you are frighteningly devious”
“Yeah,” Dylan agreed “And I’ve got your back”
Six
“He’s after soe take-out pizza frouy doesn’t make an offer like that for no reason”
Lindsay returned to the foyer, kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse, refastening her ponytail
It was Sunday afternoon The Mets ga on the sports channel, and both women were dressed in casual sweatpants, loose T-shirts and cozy socks
“No argument from me,” she said as she followed Kaitlin into the compact kitchen area of the apartment “My point is only that you should say yes”
Kaitlin pulled open the door to her freezer and extracted a bag of ice cubes “And play into his hands?”